Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Lorain County Law Enforcement Receive Armored Military Vehicles

Two armored military vehicles were gifted to the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office and the Lorain Police Department this week through the Ohio LESO Program, which provides surplus military property to law enforcement at no cost.

The Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles weigh about 50,000 pounds a piece and are equipped to withstand heavy gunfire, explosive attacks, and warzone environments which makes us wonder why, exactly, they are needed to help protect the citizens of Lorain County (unless we missed the memo about IEDs buried along Oberlin Avenue).

Capt. Roger Watkins of the Lorain County Police told the Chronicle Telegram recently the vehicles will be used "at crime scenes such as stand-offs, shootings and whenever a person is barricaded inside a building."

He added that another objective is intimidation and, granted, they've got that covered. But the acquisition does seem a bit excessive, unless, of course, the vehicles could be rented to neighboring counties for, say, a little tailgating.